Moorhead, Minn. - The St. Cloud State University wrestling
team kicked-off its 2007-08 season with an outstanding effort at the
2007 Cobber Open, which was hosted by Concordia College in Moorhead,
Minn. Since this was an open format, no team scores were kept for the
tournament.
SCSU was paced at the meet by two first place finishes at 141-pounds
and 157-pounds. Gabe Suarez captured top honors at 141-pounds thanks to
a 6-5 decision over Minnesota State Moorhead's Derek Bomsted. Suarez
was 4-0 at the Cobber Open, which included a 2:20 fall over Dickinson
State's Nick Lang, a 17-5 win over MSUM's Beau Tweeten and a 3-1 win
over St. Olaf's Dan Rysavy in the semi-finals. Of note, SCSU's Matt
Jackson also competed at 141-pounds and finished with a 3-2 record.
At 157-pounds, SCSU's John Sundgren won top honors with a 5:54 pinfall
over Tallen Wald of MSUM. To reach the finals, Sundgren chalked up some
impressive numbers in the first rounds. He started the day with an 11-2
win over Josef Waples of St. Olaf. He also scored a 6-0 win over Jacob
Salier and a 7-1 win over Justin Jones. Chad Kubasch of SCSU placed
fourth at 157-pounds with a solid 4-2 record.
At 125-pounds, Westy Hanson placed fourth with a 2-2 record, while Nick
Wasche placed fourth at 133-pounds with a 4-2 record. At 149-pounds,
Mike Markey finished the day with a 2-2 record.
At 165-pounds, Tom Anderson was a third place finisher for the Huskies.
He gained the third place spot with a 12-3 win over MSUM's Dustin
Nagel. Overall, Anderson was 3-2 at the Open. SCSU's Matt Stephenson
also wrestled at 165-pounds, and finished with a 0-2 record.
At 184-pounds, Brad Padgett placed second at the Open with a 2-1
record. Padgett lost in the finals to Jeremiah Toavs of Dickinson
State. Jairo Sandoval also competed at the Open with 1-2 record at
184-pounds.
At 197-pounds, Nick Wilkes placed fifth at the Open, which included a
14-4 win in the fifth place bout Josiah Bush of MSUM. Wilkes ended his
day in Moorhead with a 2-2 record. SCSU's Bobby Ross was 0-2 at
197-pounds.
Of note, SCSU also had several wrestlers compete at the Cobber Open on
an unattached basis. Three of those unattached Huskies won
championships at the Open (heavyweight, 165 and 133).